CALDWELL, Idaho - A Jorie Freeman lay-up with just over one minute to play gave Eastern Oregon the lead for good, as the Mountaineers won their 12th-straight game with a 57-53 victory over The College of Idaho, inside the J.A. Albertson Activities Center.
Box Score
The victory for the No. 8 ranked Mountaineers (18-2, 9-0 CCC) ended a C of I 13-game home Cascade Conference win streak, dating back to the 2010-11 season. EOU also has a two-game lead in the CCC standings after the first half of the season.
A game of runs throughout, Eastern jumped out to a quick 8-3 lead on the strengths of three-pointers from Kelsea Hurliman and Brooke Randall, only to watch the No. 21 ranked Lady Yotes (11-6, 7-2) get back-to-back jumpers from
Felicity Jones to give the hosts a 9-8 lead. EOU would counter, as Randall scored eight of her 21 points on the night in a 13-0 run that gave the Mounties their largest lead of the night at 21-9. The C of I would clamp down defensively, allowing EOU just one made field goal over the final 10 minutes, closing the half on a 15-4 run to cut the margin to 25-24 at the half.
Hurliman hit a trey to cap a 12-3 run to open the second half for the Mounties, as Eastern led 37-27, only to watch as the Yotes chipped away. A long Jones jumper got C of I within 43-42, then a 23-foot trey by Jones as the shot clock expired gave the hosts a 47-46 lead with five minutes left. After
Katelin Shannon tied the game for a third time at 53-53 with a driving lay-up inside the final 90 seconds, Randall found Freeman alone under the basket to give Eastern the two point lead. The C of I would have two chances to tie, as Jones missed a jumper with 35 seconds left, and after a missed front end of a 1-and-1,
Laura Geis missed a 10-footer in the paint with 11 seconds remaining. Hurliman iced the win with a pair of free throws inside the waning moments.
Eastern won despite a 44-29 deficit on the boards and 16 turnovers, as Hurliman had 13 points for the Mountaineers and Freeman added nine off the bench.
Jones had 22 points for the Lady Yotes, but needed 22 shots to attain her scoring total. Geis had 12 points and 13 rebounds in the loss, with
Chakala Carthen recording eight points and 10 rebounds.
The C of I returns to action next weekend, hosting Southern Oregon and Oregon Tech.
